Writes Leo Odera Omolo In Migori Town.

Political row is simmering between the Luos and their neighboring Kuria community in Migori county following the power-sharing deal which was hurriedly brokered by the cord leader Raila Amolo Odinga shortly before the March 4, 2013 election.

Under the deal, most key positions within Mogori County governance were supposed to be the preserved to the minority Kuria community.

In return the Kuria voters in the two parliamentary constituencies of Kuria East and Kuria west were to vote as a bloc for the ODM and Raila Odinga.

One of the posts which was at stake is that of the Senate representative for Migori County. The deal was brokered by Dalmas Otieno the Minister for Public Services and the four other former Luo MPS representing various constituencies and the former Kuria MP Dr Wilfred Machage.

The deal, however, flopped and did not materialize. On march 4th, 2013, the voters in both Kuria east and Kuria West constituencies voted heavily for the jubilee candidate Uhuru Kenyatta who appeared to have shared the votes in the region with Raila Odinga on almost equal terms.

The elective positions which were at stake include the coveted Senate seat, women representative, deputy county governor.

Dr. Machage went on and contested the Senator seat during the ODM primary nomination and was beaten hands down by one John Magaiwa from.the party headquarter in Nairobi which turned the results of the election upside down and handed the nomination certificate to Dr.Machage, who went on to win the seat.

The Minority Kuria community are sharing the Migori County with their neighboring majority Luos. However, the Luos have a bone to chew with Raila Odinga and all those who brokered the deal which left the community with no senior position in the County governance.

However, the Kuria attitude leaned toward voting for Uhuru Kenyatta, instead of Raila Odinga as had earlier been agreed on between the two communities. The issue has raised political temperature in the region. And the Luos are now demanding that the ODM should appoint Gilbert Ochieng’ Mbeo, the former Mathare MP as the Speaker of the Migori Regional Assembly in order to strike the tribal balance.

After the deal was struck, Ochieng’ Mbeo, Magaiwa and Phares Oluoch Kanindo who is also the former Homa-Bay Mp who were on the campaign trail for the Migori Senate seat, were prevailed upon to stop their bid so that Dr. Machage could win the seat.

And now the Luos feel they were short-changed in the deal. They want the ODM to appoint Mbeo the Assembly speakers because their Kuria neighbors failed to honor the arrangement and voted for the jubilee candidate instead of the ODM and Raila Odinga.

The mandarins at the ODM head office who took part in the discussion and negotiation for this arrangement have been urged to reconsider the possibility of appointing Ochieng’ Mbeo the Speaker of the regional Assembly.

The Luos clinched the position of County governor which was won by Zachariah Okoth Obado, who had also a Kuria as his running-mate, meaning the Luos have been left empty handed.

Ends